Aftermath
Aftermath is a short story written by Pokermask for the Spring Writing Contest. It takes place three months after Battle for Leadership and directly before The Sitrius Duty. Story Three months had passed. The island of Teridax Nui was blooming once more after the long winter that had taken place just weeks after the war. Light was spreading across the mountains as the sun was slowly rising at the horizon. The vegetation of the island gazed upon the light for the first time in months as the last remains of the snow slowly melted away. Ceasame stood on the edge of a cliff with his hands behind his back as he was witnessing the sunrise. The ground he stood upon, was the same one that Makuta Tazzuk had walked on when he came out with the Mask of Time in his hands, confirming Frofst's ultimate demise. He still remember how it was dropped and how it fell down landing on the battlefield. He could still hear the sound of the mask hitting the rockside of the mountains and the sighs of numerous warriors across the island. How it came to be was still a mystery to him, but he knew one thing was certain. It was the ultimate victory for the Organization of Darkness and it happened in just a split second. Ever since their victory, Teridax had given orders to make sure that the entire Matoran Universe was heavily guarded, so new Rahkshi troops were created, after the loss of their armies during the war. In just a month, the entire universe was under mass surveilance. Nothing or nobody could grow strong against the Organization of Darkness. Those who tried were ultimately killed. Ceasame was satisfied with the results. It was what he had always dreamed of, the Makuta having full power of the Matoran Universe. Nothing could threaten them no more, nothing could fight them no more, nothing could question them no more... except for one, Mata Nui. He was convinced that it was now time to act. Mata Nui could possibly be planning to come back and defeat the Makuta at anytime. His thinking was disrupt when his assistant, Shulze came to send a message. "My lord" the Shadow Matoran said. "What news do you bring me?" Ceasame asked as he was still looking towards the horizon. "Mata Nui's position has been cordinated to a planet not far from here" "Excellent! Now we can strike him down quicker than the force of a Bohrok horde. What is the name of this planet?" "We have gained information that it's called Bara Magna, my lord" That name echoed through Ceasame's mind. He knew full well of what Bara Magna was. It was where he came as he had been hunting Vavakx for his vengeance. He had been certain that it was nothing but a rumor that Mata Nui had inhabited on that planet, but to hear that it was true, came as a surprise to him. He knew exactly what to do next. "Tell everyone on this island that we should be ready to leave in an hour" he said. "I think it's time to pay our "great spirit" a visit." "Yes, my lord" Shulze said with no objection as he walked away. ---- Helryx stood in the middle of the memorabilia on the top floor of the order's base. Despite all the damage that had been done after the Organization of Darkness had attacked the island of Paxila, it had still remained intact, as if the invasion had never happened. What was different though was that a pedestal had been placed in the middle and on it, lied the mask of time. The last remaining memory of Makuta Frofst. She stared at it with a sad expression. Ever since that day on the battlefield, Helryx had felt a sense of depression that she's never managed to wipe away. All hope to save the universe from the tyranny of Teridax had been ruined. Frofst had been their only chance to successfully take down the Makuta and return the power to Mata Nui. What went wrong? How did it go wrong? Why? When? These questions were still circulating around her mind, but answers had never been given. All of a sudden, Brutaka ran in. Helryx noticed his presence, but did not respond. He was breathing heavily, as if he had been running more than a thousand miles. "Helryx!" He started. "There is something urgent you have to see" Once again, Helryx did not respond. All she did was staring at the mask of time, lying on it's pedestal. She had clearly given up all hope, if there even was any. Brutaka noticed her lack of confidence and became more worried. "My sister, please!" he said. "You have to listen to me! We need you right now! We have gotten a signal from something approaching this universe and we think it could be what Raity warned us about." Helryx remained silent for a while. She raised her head, her eyes now focused on the city buildings outside. She finally, silently gave out a single sentence; "What's the point?!" Brutaka looked at her in confusion. "What's the point of this?!" she continued. "In my thousands of years of living, I thought I could remain strong and brave. I thought I could bring change and peace into a universe so... so full of hatred. I guess I was wrong. There's nothing for me here now. Not even the sun can bring me joy no more." She turns around and looks at Brutaka. "Whatever you ask me for, I cannot give. I promised the great beings to serve Mata Nui's will and keep peace to the universe, but I've failed. My purpous is now nothing. Do whatever you think is best. I can't be bothered to even try anymore..." They looked at each other for a while. Brutaka saw the hopelessness in his leader's eyes. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't. He knew that whatever he said now could not convince Helryx to change her mind. After about a minute, he slowly turned around and walked out of the room, leaving her in her absence. Downstairs, Hjustematak was waiting for Helryx to come down to hear about the situation, only to see that Brutaka had returned with no luck of getting her interest. He walked towards the skakdi with a worried expression. "She seem to have given up entirely" he said. "I think it's up to us now" "What do you want us to do?" Hjustematak asked. "Make sure to send two agents to Metru Nui and evacuate the city immideatly. This could turn out to be the beginning of a new war... and possibly our last" ---- "Vakama! I've received a message that he two agents have a arrived to the city. Should we go look for them?" The mighty Joma, Toa Mangai of fire had just entered the turaga's hut to give out the message. Vakama was looking at the sacred fire in his hut and then turned towards the noble toa. "No, it's too dangerous" the turaga replied. "But we are about four Toa here who could take on those... things by ourselves. I don't see why it would be too dangerous for us" "As noble and wise as you are, Joma, I cannot risk the lives of three young Toa without any backup just yet. They have alot to learn, in difference to your experiences" Joma gave a skeptical nod and walked out of the hut. Vakama turned back towards the fire to let himself concentrate. Ever since he had gotten the warning, his daydreams had appeared more frequently than many years ago. He knew he had to focus to find out what they tried to say. It was then he saw outside of the window of his hut, a darkred star falling from the sky and landing into the Coliseum. It had arrived. This was the beginning of the biggest disaster in the history of the Matoran Universe. To be continued in The Sitrius Duty Characters *Ceasame *Shulze *Brutaka *Helryx *Hjustematak *Vakama *Joma *Frofst (Mentioned only) *Teridax (Mentioned only) *Tazzuk (Mentioned only) *Mata Nui (Mentioned only) *Eritko (Not mentioned by name) *Sirko (Not mentioned by name) *Sanya (Not mentioned by name) *Tangle (Not mentioned by name) *Fentra (Not mentioned by name)